Automatic voltage-regulator.



w ii 7. By

G. S. NEELEY. AUTOMATIC VOLTAGE REGULATOR. APPLICATION FILED JULY I,1912.

1,158,001, Patented 00 0, 26, 191.5.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

w v l k h \M v Q2 Wfimases G. S. NEELEY. AUTOMATIC VOLTAGE REGULATOR;APPLICATION'FILED JULY 1, 1912.

Patented Get. 26, 1915 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

[nvmiar George 5 I By UNITED s'rarns rrrrnn orruou.

GEORGE SPENCER NEELEY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI. ASSIGNOR, BY MESNEASSIGN- MEN'I'S, TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

AUTOMATIC VOLTAGE-REGULATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented (Pct. 28, 1915.

To (/7! whom. it may concern. 7

Be it known that 1, Geono'n Srnxcsn Niamey, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain new anduseful Improvement in Automatic Voltage-llegulators, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part ofthls specification, in which Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of a systemin which my improved regulator is applied directlv to the control of thefield resistance of the generator. Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view of myimproved regulator showing it utilized in the regulation of the E. M. F.of an independent circuit.

lhis invention relates to improvements in automatic voltage regulatorswhich may be applied to directly regulate the E. M. F. of a generator,or which may be employed to regulate the E. M. l of some particularcircuit, as, for instance, the regulation of the E. M. i of the lampcircuit in an axledriven lighting system for railway train lighting. i

"The novelty of my present invention lies in the provision of featuresfor keeping the regulating resistance, which is of the well known carbonpile variety, in a. state of gentle agitation for the purpose of keepingthe carbon disks from jamming or packing together in such a manner as toprevent a delicate adjustment of the value of the-carbon pile as aregulating resistance.

Another particular advantage gained by my improvement is the overcomingof the objection to the use of the carbon pile as a regulatingresistance in railway 'ar lighting systems, namely, that theaccumulation of dust between the carbon disks seriously in terferes withthe sensitive or delicate adjustment of the resistance of the. pile toa. fine degree.

The. principal object of my present invention is to provide simple meansfor keeping the carbon pile resistance in a continuo'us'state of gentleagitation so that the se.- vere jarring incident to railway travel willnot cause the carbon disks forming said pile to settle down into a hardpack. By continuously moving or vibrating the carbon disks of "Th8 pile,dust and like foreign sub stances will not find permanent lodginentbetween the surfaces of said disks.

To the above purposes my invention con-v sists in certain features ofnovelty hereinafter more fully described'and claimed.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to Fig. 1, l designates agenerator, 2 the field coil thereof, 3, l and 5'tl1e external field orvoltage controlling circuit in which is connected the two series 6 and'7 of carbon disks. These disksconstitute the field regulatingresistance, said resistance being regulated by pressure upon theextremities of the disks which constitute a pile.

A connecting yoke 8 forms a part of the field circuit between the piles6 and 7, said yoke being under pressure exerted differentially by aspring 9 and lever 10 in one direction and the magnet core 12 under theinfluence of the coil or winding 13 in the opposite direction. Thewinding 13 is constantly under the influence of the E. M. F. of the workcircuit 16 and 17.

As hereinbefore set forth, one of the advantages of my present inventionis to overcome the difficulty of maintaining a fine or close. regulationin the application of a carbon pile resistance. This is moreparticularly noticeable in railway train lighting systems where a greatquantity of dust is constantly thrown over the apparatus from the roadbed.

It is also found that the constant vibration and jarring incident to themovement of car over the rails causes the carbon disks to pack together,which is another serious objection to the use of carbon piles in trainlighting systems.

To prevent the disks of the piles 6 and 7 of my improved apparatus fromever remaining in an absolute state of rest for any considerable lengthof time I employ a relay having amagnet core l which is under theinfluence of the coil or winding 15. This coil 15 is under theinfluence. of the E. M. F. of the work circuit 16 and 17. The magnetcore ll attracts the flexibly mounted armature 18, which is integralwith a lever 19.

At the free end of this lever 19 is a contact The primary object of therelay is to impart a pulsating movement to the yoke 8,

and which movement is im arted to the piles of carbon disks 6 and forthe purpose of constantly agitating the same 'to.

prevent packing and to prevent dust from settling between the surfacesof the disks forming said piles. The pulsating movement is imparted tothe yoke 8 in connection with the regulating action of the device asfollows :-Assuming the voltage to be on a decrease from normal, when thecontacts and 21 are made to impinge by the action of the spring 22, thecoil 27 is energized, thereby neutralizing the coil 13. This actioncauses the spring9 to retract, thereby exerting an augmented force onthe lever 10 and piles 6 and 7. This action reduces the resistance ofthe piles 6 and7, which reduction in resistanceinstantly serves to raisethe E. M. F. on the mains 16 and 17, which action, in turn, tends toseparate the contacts 20 and 21. This cycle of operations takes placeand is maintained with such rapidity that there is no actual visibledisturbance in the E. M. F. of the work circuit.

It will be noted that a rising E. M. F. on the work circuit 16 and 17proportionately increases the strength of the voltage coil 13 on thecore 12, which action tends to increase the resistance of the piles 6and 7. The function of the relay is to supplement this action by a rapidvibratory action obtained by admitting an interrupted opposing flow ofcurrent in winding 27 of such duration ments of core 12 regular insteadof jerky.

The resistance 25 and winding 26 in shunt thereto serve to give anincreasing E. M. F. on an increase of load upon the main circuit. Thecoil 26 is Wound in opposition to the coil 15, so thatit will neutralizethe same in proportion to the load in the circuit 16, 17. This increasein load will, therefore,

operate to increase the neutralizing effect fective pull of spring 9 isincreased and the resistance of piles 6 and 7 is diminished.

-A' closed winding 24: around the core 12 of the main regulator servesto eliminate inductive discharging or sparking at the contacts 20 and 21for the reason that at the moment the circuit 23 is interrupted by theopening of the contacts 20 and 21 a current is momentarily induced inthe closed circuit 24, which induced current is of such value as toprevent a sudden drop of-the magnetism of the core 12, hence eliminatingthepossibility of destructive sparking at the contacts 20 and 21.

- The device illustrated in 2 is identical with that illustrated in Fig.1, but is there shown applied to any circuit other than the vention, thescope of which is set forth inv the appended claim.

I claim: In combination, a circuit to be regulated,

a voltage regulator therefor comprising a resistance element in saidcircuit, means for varying the effect of sald resistance,electromagnetic operating means for said resistance varying means, saidelectromagnetic means comprising opposing coils each re- GEORGE SPENCERNEELEY.

Witnesses:

M. P. SMITH, M. A. HANDEL.

Copies or this patent may be obtained for five cents each by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

